Why I enjoy watching birds

Posted: 15.07.11 in Articles category

A personal reflection by a Northumbrian vicar, Rev Adrian Hughes

As a teenager growing up in Birmingham I remember being drawn by the wonderful illustrations of Raymond Harris Ching in the AA Book of British Birds into a fascination with these creatures. I began to go learn more about them when I moved up to Northumberland, and bought my first pair of binoculars. They are wonderful, wild creatures and yet so many are in our own back yard. Again and again they move even the most sceptical agnostic into a profound sense of wonder and delight. They are a fantastic portal into the intricacy and complexity of the natural world and the wonder of the created universe of which we are part. They nudge my dulled spirit into an awareness of the presence and wonder of God - they are manifestations of his handiwork, as indeed am I. Listening and watching birds requires patience, great stillness and a focussed attentiveness which is so much like prayer. Observing these creatures has given me so many moments of joy and delight, and enlivens those other senses, so long underused in our sophisticated lifestyles. And every once in a while there is an encounter of great intimacy, when bird and watcher, mindful of the presence of each other, seem simply content to rest in mutual company, fellow elements of God's created order, and a living testimony to God's presence and mystery. Adrian Hughes, July 2011